Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Animal House: An Intro to Marcus

Hey guys and gals! I'm excited to be a part of something new and now I have the time to actually put my thoughts on paper (digital notepad?). This means you guys get to hear my ramblings on my dive into Arcanists, and more importantly, Marcus.

Introductions

To kick things off, I wanted to properly introduce myself with some sort of credibility.  I've been a part of the miniatures world for over 16 years.  I've played Warhammer Fantasy, 40k, Heroclix, Heroscape, X-Wing, Warmachine and now I make the plunge into Malifaux. I consider myself a player who is semi-competitive so my writing will focus on trying to figure out which models work best for which situation, strategies and schemes. I'm sure this will be revealed in battle reports, articles and tactica. The H&H team is also planning some video footage as well.


I have a passion for painting and I try a variety of techniques and methods to get my crews and armies on the table. So from time to time you guys can expect some pictures and fun stuff like that.  Moving onto my intro topic today.



Starting with Arcanists

I have decided to pick up the Arcanist faction and most notably with a focus on Marcus. His abilities looked like fun and he seems to have completely unique play styles depending on which upgrades you select. I'm not going to go into a super detailed summary of what he does as there is a lovely write up over at the Wyrd wiki, Pullmyfinger (check it out! Marcus Tactica).  Instead I plan on giving my thoughts and opinions from personal experiences and what I have discussed with other Marcus advocates and detractors.

Kinda like this, but with a pimp cane.
The red head is optional

The main thing I was attracted to regarding Marcus was the whole idea of being a Beast Master.Marcus loves his animal friends and they love to tear into his enemies.Wyrd has done a great job of creating mechanics and abilities with great synergy and style. The beastmaster WANTS to play beasts and he does it better than anyone!

You mean the beastmaster actually gets to use his beasts?!

Our group started Malifaux about two months ago and I have collected all the beasts models that have been released since M2E. I picked up the metal Slate Ridge Mauler too because he looked so cuddly. I've been able to get 4 games in with him and so far I have been super impressed.  The lack of ranged attacks has been a little hindering since I have decided to play all beasts all the time, but with some of the sweet beta beasts coming out we seem to be getting some new options in that department (check out that Basilisk).

 From this moment on I will be writing my thoughts on each model within Marcus's arsenal, how I play them as well as my general feelings on their viability. I want to try something radical and give them a grade based on Strategy and Schemes, rate their effectiveness and hopefully get some good feedback from our new readers. I firmly believe that you can never be good enough at any game and constructive criticism will be beneficial. Well, if you made it this far then thank you for sticking it out through my first post. The next few will focus on Marcus as a master, his favorite strategies and all the crazy things the beastmaster can accomplish. 

-Baltz


1 comment:

  1. Well scratch what I said about the Basilisk having a gun.....I can't read so that was awful. Could've sworn it had a ranged poison attack. Aw well still looks good and fun

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